Figuring out the 2014 garden calendar is a crapshoot

Figuring out the 2014 garden calendar is a crapshoot

So, where are we on the gardening calendar? Old timers know, when it comes to outdoor activity, there is a physical calendar and there is a garden calendar.

The physical calendar is pretty rigid. It’s either April 24 or it’s not. The garden calendar is more fluid. I’ve had cool-season crops going to seed by this time of the year. There have been years when, if you didn’t already have tomatoes in the ground and hip-high by late April, you were seriously behind. Then, there’s this year.

The Carolina dogwoods are in leaf and flower. Cornus florida doesn’t do that. Everybody knows one of the key ways to tell a C. florida from a C. kousa is to check for leaves when the tree is in flower. C. florida doesn’t have leaves and blooms; Kousa dogwoods do. But here are our C. floridas, well in bloom with a good flush of leaves right along with the flowers.

It’s April and my forsythia have just finished blooming. The crocus were up and gone in a flash in March, not in February. The bloodroot bloomed in early March instead of April. The mahonia did its thing pretty much on schedule but the silver-leaf elaeagnus has justed started.

So, what are we to do in the landscape? NOAA suggests temperatures will be above normal from now through summer. Accuweather shows near-normal temperatures, at least through May. One almanac calls for warmer-than-usual weather in April and May; the other says cooler.

Who knows? I intend to take a chance with installing more cool-season crops in hopes of getting at least a bowl or two of salad out of them. If I put in any warm-season sets, it will be with plenty of mulch. I’m still not confident enough to try putting warm-season seeds in the ground. Those will stay in the greenhouse for now.

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* If you can manage a Friday off on May 2, the folks at Ciener Botanical Gardens in Kernersville have planned a trip to the J.D. Raulston Arboretum and to Plant Delights Nursery, both in Raleigh. It’s an all-day affair that runs from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The Horizon charter bus will leave the garden promptly at 8 a.m. and head to Raleigh for a guided tour at J.C. Raulston Arboretum. Following the tour, participants will eat lunch on the bus and then head to Plant Delights Nursery to shop for plants. The cost is $30 per person. You must provide your own “brown bag” lunch. The garden will provide drinks. Only a few seats remain. Contact Toni Hays at 996-7888 or tonihays@pjcbg.org.

* The Cobblestone Farmers Market in Old Salem will reopen for its third season on Saturday, May 3. The market will open weekly on Saturdays through Nov 22 from 9 a.m.-noon. It is located adjacent to the Single Brothers’ Garden at the intersection of West Street and Salt Street. Look for fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, eggs, cheeses, breads, and other farm products from the surrounding countryside.